About 20 years ago, a handful of Indian families who had migrated to the USA gathered together once a month in a local church or school to worship and celebrate festivals. These families nurtured a dream to build and maintain a full fledged Hindu temple in Delaware. Although it seemed a far flung idea back then, over the years the Indian community grew and the Hindu temple Association held fundraisers to build the temple. Through patience and planning, the ground breaking ceremony for the Temple was performed on Oct. 20th 1996 on about 4.5 acres of land in Hockessin purchased with donations of about 60 families who ardently wished to make this dream a reality.

Thanks to divine intervention and financial help from the local Indian community and, construction began and the Hindu temple, Mahalakshmi Devasthanam was built. The main deity is Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. The Hindu temple celebrated its Kumbhabhishekam in May 2002.